Killing Puzzles the Police And Spector's Friends Too

By RICK LYMAN

Published: February 5, 2003

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 4—
As detectives searched for a motive in the fatal shooting of a B-movie actress, friends and colleagues of both her and the rock producer Phil Spector, charged by the police with murdering her at his mansion, puzzled today over what might have brought them together in the first place.

The Los Angeles lawyer Marvin Mitchelson, one of Mr. Spector's closest friends, said he had never mentioned the actress, Lana Clarkson, who was in her early 40's and had starred in low-budget films like ''Deathstalker'' (1984), ''Barbarian Queen'' (1985)'' and ''Amazon Women on the Moon'' (1987).

Similarly, Ms. Clarkson's agent of nine years, Nick Terzian, said that he had talked to her regularly and that ''she never mentioned his name to me, not once.''

Something, however, brought her together with Mr. Spector late Sunday at the House of Blues, a restaurant and nightclub on the Sunset Strip where Ms. Clarkson had recently begun working as a hostess in the V.I.P. room. And something took them from there to Pyrenes Castle, Mr. Spector's sprawling, turreted mansion on a hill overlooking the otherwise middle-class Los Angeles suburb of Alhambra. It was at the mansion that Ms. Clarkson was killed just before dawn on Monday.

Investigators have said that as far as they know, Mr. Spector and Ms. Clarkson were the only people in the house overnight Sunday.

But ''this case is by no means a slam dunk,'' said a senior investigator for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, which is conducting the inquiry. ''What did happen? We know we've got a dead girl, a gun and Phil Spector inside. We're working from there.''

Mr. Spector, famed as the creator of the ''wall of sound'' studio overdubbing that revolutionized pop music in the 1960's and for producing or writing a long line of hit songs, remained free on $1 million bail today. He is not due to appear in court until March 3, for his arraignment, where the judge will decide whether to continue bail.

Had Mr. Spector remained in jail rather than posting bail on Monday, prosecutors would have had to bring charges against him in court by late today. Now that he is free, though, no arraignment need be held for a month. The police said they would spend the time trying to figure out a motive. But they are no more puzzled than Mr. Spector's friends.

Though Mr. Spector has a history of alcohol abuse, Mr. Mitchelson said: ''He was in a very good place, emotionally. He'd been sober for more than three years. He was happy. What happened in that house?''

Mr. Spector's lawyer, Robert Shapiro, has declined to comment, and was not at his office today.

Investigators say Mr. Spector, 62, picked up Ms. Clarkson at the House of Blues on Sunday night but are unsure whether he first met her then or had known her before. In any case, the authorities say, he had his driver take him and Ms. Clarkson back to his mansion. The driver dropped them off and then waited outside for the call to take Ms. Clarkson home. Around 5 a.m., the driver heard shots from inside the mansion and called the police.

The investigators said they believed Ms. Clarkson to have been 40, but a biography on her personal Web site, lanaclarkson.com -- which said today that ''a tragic and senseless murder took you from us!'' -- put her age at 41.

On the Web site, Ms. Clarkson said she had been born in Long Beach but had moved with her family to the Napa Valley and had not returned to Southern California until she was a teenager.

Then, after landing guest roles on television series like ''Three's Company'' and ''Happy Days,'' she won small parts in movies like ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'' (1982) and ''Scarface'' (1983). She signed on with the B-movie producer Roger Corman and developed a cult following in low-budget films, which usually featured her in skimpy Xena-type costumes, sword in hand.

In more recent years, she tried her hand at stand-up comedy and carved out a career in commercials. She also made appearances at comic book conventions and other fan events, where she was still remembered for her B-film roles. She appeared just last Saturday at one such event in Pasadena along with three other cast members from ''Sting of the Scorpion,'' a pilot series for the Sci-Fi Channel.

Ms. Clarkson was also a volunteer at Project Angel Food, which delivers meals to people with AIDS. Pamela Brannon, the project's manager, quoted from Ms. Clarkson's application today: ''I love people. I love food. I thought what better way to enjoy both than by helping out. I have a new car and some time and a desire to be of service to those who need it most.''

Photo: Lana Clarkson in a 1987 publicity photo for one of her roles, in ''Amazon Women on the Moon.'' (Associated Press)